DESCRIPTION: The San Antonio Shock Center supports a Pathology Core and tissue bank that conducts cross-sectional pathological analyses of established and new rodent models used in aging research, and is developing a comprehensive histopathologic data base of their findings. The goal is to understand the changes that occur as animals age and to be able to determine when changes are associated with, vs. independent of, underlying disease processes. The core is an extension of a core developed to support a program project on nutrition and aging. The core leaders have established routine procedures to evaluate and record histological findings and have implemented a limited number of routine immunohistochemical analyses beyond histology. One outcome of the program project was the discovery that life extension resulting from exchanging soy protein for casein occurred by ameliorating age-related nephropathy. In the broader context of the NSC, the core will perform necropsies in aging colonies maintained by the Animal Core and for individual investigators will develop a histology data base and tissue bank, educate aging researchers about the value of pathological data, and will welcome users from other components of the aging research community. The core will support multiple existing funded projects, including several funded through NIA. Around 30 publications that used the core are listed since 1995. The core has a strong training/educational component.